Qatar Primary Materials Company (QPMC) has hosted a media roundtable revealing the company’s renewed vision, on the back of signing materials contracts earlier in the year.

In parallel to building firm bonds with the media, QPMC is looking to work with contractors and private sector companies, the latter which constitutes an essential pillar in the company’s reintroduced vision.

Engineer Eisa Al-Hammadi, QPMC chief executive officer discussed QPMC’s new vision, which includes developing close partnerships with the private sector, considered "a key catalyst in the primary materials’ trade dynamics and real estate investment in the country”.

He explained, “It was necessary to revisit our vision after ten years in operation, and a paradigm shift from a cargo handling company, to a major construction materials’ trader and distributor and ambitiously, a price regulator at the local level.”
Recently, as part of the effort to ensure a secure supply of materials for the growing construction sector, QPMC signed five agreements with private sector establishments for the procurement of primary construction materials to the Qatari market, consisting primarily of gabbro and limestone.

Al-Hammadi pointed out that the company seeks to “stabilise the prices of primary infrastructure materials and establish quality standards for aggregates and limestone in the long-term as part of its pivotal role in the country’s infrastructure development on the instruction of the Qatari government.”

As per the agreements, Doha Quarry is committed to provide three million tons of gabbro over a one year period while MFH will procure limestone for five years, amounting to 7.5 million tonnes of material.

Oryx Trading has agreed to supply two million tonnes of gabbro for a year, while Village Trading will be supplying six million tonnes of gabbro over five years to QPMC. All the suppliers are Qatari-owned companies.

According to Al-Hammadi, these agreements are capable of increasing the local stockpile of primary materials under the supervision of QPMC to 58 million tonnes. This amount will meet the national demand first and foremost and ensures both price competitiveness and constancy for the benefit of QPMC’s new partners, the private sector companies.

To date, the company has also signed supply agreements with 24 local contractors to source to them 1.1052 million tonnes of materials.

This is intended to increase profitability and investment in the upgrade of company assets and facilities, allowing for the expansion of activities in the coming years, according to Al-Hammadi.

In this past September alone, QPMC unloaded over 1,952,515,907 tonnes of materials through its ports.

The procured materials will be stored in QPMC-owned facilities in Lusail, Mesaieed and Ras Laffan, which will ensure accessibility of materials in the north, south and the capital city of Doha and timely delivery to all construction sites around the country.

In parallel, the Public Works Authority (Ashghal) and QPMC had also recently signed a framework of agreement.

According to the agreement, QPMC will supply Ashghal with 91 million tonnes of gabbro and limestone for the next five years, making it one of QPMC’s biggest customers and forming a catalyst for infrastructural development in Qatar.

The long term commitment with Ashghal as a key client, has also led QPMC to seek a deal with Hyundai Glovis, to ship a bulk amount of 50 million tonnes of aggregates to Qatar, over the coming five years.

The decision to launch sales of primary materials on the local front, through a central entity, QPMC in this case, will allow Ashghal and Qatari contracting companies involved in construction projects in general, to take advantage of competitive prices and guaranteed quality, noting that the signed agreements include various specifications of primary materials to suit all construction requirements.

Additionally, to maintain transparency while keeping cost to a minimum without compromising on quality, QPMC adopts the FIFO (first in first out) mechanism which means the materials entering the storage facility first will be sold first.

To account for the increasing demand on primary materials amidst the thriving construction sector, QPMC is increasing the capacity of bulk materials with the construction of the Gabbro Berth Terminal in Mesaieed Port, which will have an unloading capacity of 34 million tonnes a year.

In Lusail, QPMC’s jetty will supply three million tonnes of construction material per year to support all construction work in the new city.
QPMC has also set up two floating jetties in Ras Laffan to supply the needed primary materials; with total port receiving capacity of nine million tonnes a year, with all ports operating around the clock.